Physique-In-Progress: Geez, it's been two weeks! Progress Time!!

Ok, I'm over the snow. And the cold. It's rediculous and I'm ready to move. I just want warmth. And kids in school without two-hour delays. Two hour delays mean I come home and sleep from 7:30am to 9:30am. Wake up, take the kids to school, then come back home (10:30 by this time) and try and fall straight back to sleep (actually I can) until 1:30 or 2. Before I have to leave again to pick the kiddos up from school. Then teach BodyPump, shower at the gym and go straight back to work from 7p-7a.

That was my day. Thank God for BodyPump!

So, without sacrificing sleep, it is impossible for me to lift on certain days. And I'm sad to say that on most days it's hard for me to spend much time with Kaleb. :( One of these days... I will quit this time-sucking, only-here-for-a-paycheck job and pursue health and fitness as my full time job, work less hours, make more money, and design my own life. One of these days...I'll be able to spend time with my kid every day, put him to bed more than 3 days a week, and maybe even get to go on a date with my hubby (or will-be hubby...one of these days...still need money and time to make that happen too!). *Sigh*

Anywho! It's been a while!

I feel as tho it's pointless to spend the time typing up my full workouts to post. But I have been trying to stick to the 4-day split as written, but for reasons listed above, my schedule just isn't feasible to stick to anything exact. My program continues to be a work in progress. However, I am sticking to the split-style workout. Focusing on 2-3 muscle groups at a time, and doing 2-3 exercises per muscle group, and 3-4 sets or 8-12 reps (progressive-overload-style...which is continuing to increase reps, and when reaching 12 reps, increase weight and start back at 8 reps). Number of muscle groups and exercises just depends on how much time I have. I've been doing a lot of lifting at home, and going to the Monon center when it makes sense time-wise. I'd love to be more consistent with my lifting, but until I am able to leave this job, it just ain't happening!

I'm also back to teaching classes regularly. I mean just with the holidays, etc. there were gaps where, like I didn't teach my Tuesday BodyPump or my Wednesday BodyAttack for 3+ weeks becuase of holidays! Let me say, teaching Attack once a week is hard enough...teaching after 3 weeks off is NUTSO!

But altogether I've been killing it with my diet and training. Looking back thru my log, I've only taken 3 rest days this year, New Years Day (we've talked about that), Jan 3rd, and this past Saturday because we went to Columbus (gone 4:30am to 11pm). I've been trying to add in incline treadmill (10 to 12 level incline at 3.0 to 3.5 mph). And with Les Mills launch coming up, I've spent a lot of time learing chorey and at time, physically practicing. Although not working at 100% intensity, I do break a good sweat when I practice.

My sleep has been an area that I've had to sacrifice as well, unfortunately. Sometimes by my choice (when I woke up early to go to fasted cardio when I could have slept in until BodyPump) and sometimes not (stupid two-hour delay).

That said, I still feel amazing!! I have plenty of energy, and even still doing 2-3 separate workouts a day sometimes. 4 on Sunday actually... Pump, Combat, CXWorx in the morning, and still lifted at home. Did 6am fasted cardio the next morning, taught Pump at 9:30am, and lifted again that afternoon. With the post workout recovery drink I have and the nighttime recovery when I feel like I needed, I haven't had much muscle soreness at all considering the amounts I'm lifting. I'm up to 195lb 4x10 squats, did 100lb bench press 4x8 ... up to 370lb 4x10 leg press... not too shabby I don't think. And I'm seeing definition too... in my arms, legs, abs ... I know I'm working hard. I'm just not sore!

And progress-wise... where did I leave off last?

Well, Jan 2nd numbers:

Chest: 38.25
Arms: 12.0
Hips: 39.5
Waist: 31.5
Thigh: 23.75
Calf: 15.75

Bodyfat: 19.99%

And Jan 17 (day 14 of challenge):

Chest: 37.25 ... (down 1.0)
Arms: 11.75 ... (down 0.25)
Hips: 38 ... (down 1.5!)
Waist: 30.5 ... (down 1.0)
Thigh: 22.5 ... (down 1.0)
Calf: 15.25 ... (down 0.5)

Bodyfat: 16.77% (down 3.22%!!!)
Weight: 149.0 (down 13.2 lbs from 162.2 on 1/1)

(Progress pics at the end)

Not too shabby!! I started the 24-day challenge on 1/4, so I was already losing weight before that, but had been taking the MNS (Metabolic Nutrition System) Max vitamins for the two weeks prior. Once I quit my junk food habits and cut out the crap, it started falling off. The cleanse phase (first 10 days) really cut all the excess water, toxins and crap and was a big part of my initial loss. My cravings have been non-existent anymore. I've caught myself saying to people that I was a junk-food addict (past-tense) instead of "I am". :) And my energy is thru-the-roof because of the products I'm taking, especially the sports performance ones. And like today, I had Mass Impact for the first time, with Arginine Extreme, O2 Gold, and Catalyst as my pre-workout before BodyPump. Felt amazing, and there isn't even caffeine in them! I didn't have caffeine today until 1am at work!

I'm currently on day 17, and down to 148.8. Never to see 150 again!
So even though my loss has slowed, that is to be expected since I should really only be losing about 1 to 1.5 lbs a week, now that I'm losing fat. All fat, in fact! The amazing thing about those numbers, though, is the fact that I'm maintaining my lean muscle mass, even in a calorie deficit. There are days when I'm only taking in 1300 calories or so. Typically though, it's closer to 1600-1800. I'm not losing my muscle because I'm taking in quite a bit of protein, usually 180-200 g per day. And because the Catalyst and other supps that I take that all contain lots of BCAA's. The MNS in itself is like a big bucket of nutrition filling in the gaps of anything I may be missing from food. Especially since I'm eating pretty much the same things daily.

My diet consists of:

Breakfast:
1 cup (or 1/2 cup) egg whites (usually with 2 tbsp salsa)
+ 1 packet plain oatmeal with Stevia and cinnamon (sometimes w/walnuts)

or Meal Replacement Shake* (replaces one meal or snack per day...not always breakfast)

Lunch/Dinners:
Chicken Broccoli Slaw (I am not eating this as often though because of the carbs in the dressing, but if it fits my macros that day, I'll still eat it occasionally)

5-7 oz Chicken Breast + veggies (broccoli/carrots/cauliflower - steamed)

5-7 oz Steak/Chicken + sauted bell pepper and onion (maybe 1/2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce) *This is becoming a new favorite!

7oz Salmon w/garlic + 12 asparagus spears (may or may not have sweet potato w/stevia, cinnamon, 3 pecans... depending on if meal close to workout time or not)

2 cups spinach + bell pepper + 1/4 cup feta cheese + 2 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette + 3-4 oz chicken breast

Snacks:
Half cup Cottage cheese + 50-75 g pineapple (I could eat this every day for the rest of my life)

Quest bar

1 oz cinnamon almonds (soak in egg whites, cover in Stevia and cinnamon, baked at 325-degrees for about 25 min)

Calorie / Macro goals:

1600-1800 calories
Protein: 40-45%
Carbs: 30%
Fat: 25-30%

My calorie goal varies because depending on my work/sleep schedule, my eating window is longer/shorter. Sometimes I'm up for 24-hours (minus possibly a 2-3 hour nap) and some days I'm only awake for 12-13 hours. But looking at my average intake for, say the last week, it comes to average 1645 calories. Average protein for the last week comes to 170g, which is 41%...and so on. So I'm on target!!

You can view my food log at myfitnesspal.com , user name lesliehylton81.

I've leveled out now so I'm not dropping huge numbers, because I don't have huge numbers to drop. I am steadily dropping average of about 0.2 lbs per day, which equates to about 1.4 lbs per week. I'll adjust as I need if I stall, and at some point might need to consult a nutrition coach, but I don't feel the need as long as I'm reaching my goals!

Speaking of coaches ... my first appointment with my posing coach is Friday!!

I've been looking at posing suits too, and I'm pretty dead-set on RED!

Ok, I better get to studying. Still lots of choreography to learn before launch!!

Oops, Almost forgot the pics! (if you're on my FB, you've probably seen them anyways)